Romance? Why clearly Strawberry Panic, the most cliched romance series of all cliched romance series.

Seriously, Strawberry Panic actually features an underwater kiss and plays it 100% straight (lolpun). And I don't even get me started on Amane and Hikari with their entire "Prince/Princess" shtick. What series features 1. A wedding crashing elopement 2. An underwater kiss 3. And a so called "Prince" rescuing a damsel on horseback?

hard to say, but one romance from an anime that i watched recently was really good, it was Ayato and Haruka from Rahxephon, they literally manipulate time and space just to be together

Ahhh yes, someone finally mentioned RahXephon. :D
Some faith in the anime community has been restored.

haha thanks. i know what you mean though, haven't talked to many people that have actually seen the show, such a shame that people assume it's just an Evangelion imitation

Exactly, when I can argue that Eureka Seven and most mech shows could also be compared to Evangelion.

well that's the thing, really every mech show nowadays can be compared to either Evangelion or the Gundam series, in fact you could even compare Evangelion with the original Mobile Suit Gundam, but that doesn't make them imitations, shows like Rahxephon and Eureka Seven are unique in their own right

Unfortunately, people uphold their anime as they would to religion and politics.

Clannad
hand maid may
kanokon
Kimikiss Pure Rogue
Love Hina
Onegai Teacher
Rec
Princess Lover
Tokimeki Memorial Only Love
SAO
Ai Yori Aoshi probably the best i have seen. Very funny and has its moments of a good romance story.